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When you think of the most sustainable corporations in the world, Bell Canada may not jump to mind. Nonetheless, Corporate Knights listed Bell as one of only eight Canadian companies to make the Global 100 list of sustainable compa- nies for 2011. Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) was also named byMaclean’s/Jantzi-Sustainalytics as one of Canada’s Top 50 Socially Responsible Corporations. It also made the prestigious FTSE4Good Global Index. It is not surprising that it is an active member of the United Nations Global Compact and that it adheres to the Compact’s principles on human rights, labour, the environment, and anticorruption.

Bell is Canada’s largest communications company, providing consumers and businesses with solutions to all of their communications needs. Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. It has a number of divisions including Bell Mo- bility and Bell Media (Canada’s premier multimedia com- pany with assets in television, radio, and digital media, including CTV, Canada’s number-one television network, and the country’s most-watched specialty channels).

Bell takes social responsibility and sustainability seri- ously. It has no doubt that acting responsibly is central to achieving the sustainable business success that is essential to achieving its corporate goal of being recognized by custom- ers as Canada’s leading communications company. “Corpo- rate responsibility is not a program at Bell. It is a way of life,” said Michael Sabia, Bell’s former CEO. “Our success as a company—and as a country—will be defined by the sustain- ability of the communities in which we live and work.”

In achieving sustainability, the company stresses that each employee has a part to play in accomplishing this agenda. George Cope, Bell’s current president and CEO, adds that Bell operates “according to the highest ethical principles and remain[s] committed to the highest standards of corpo- rate responsibility” in all of its interactions with customers, shareholders, suppliers, and team members as well as to the broader communities in which we work and live.

Bell’s sustainability vision is one of contributing to the well-being of society by enabling responsible economic growth, connecting communities, and safeguarding the natural environment. As Canada’s largest communications company, Bell believes that it has a responsibility to make its services accessible to all members of society, including those with disabilities or living in remote areas. The com- pany takes pride in the fact that its founder, Alexander Graham Bell, was driven by the conviction that he could help deaf people hear and communicate better. “That same spirit— of innovation, of altruism, of service”—remains at Bell

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today, more than 130 years later. Not only does it still help those with disabilities to communicate easily and more efficiently, it also provides telemedicine, telepsychiatry services, and e-learning services to remote communities.

Bell has a multifaceted sustainability program. It begins with the workplace, where it strives not only to have a safe and healthy working environment, but also to have fully engaged employees. It invested almost $15 million in training and development, and was honoured in 2011 for its excellence in workplace diversity and in- clusiveness. Bell conducts trend analysis and bench- mark studies, monitors stakeholder feedback, and un- dertakes surveys to ensure that it is responding to issues relevant to Canadian consumers. Its 2010 survey re- vealed that privacy and data security, responsible mar- keting practices, protection of children in the online world, reduction of energy consumption and emissions, and the use of responsible suppliers were among the is- sues of greatest importance to its customers.

Bell has a wide range of responsible marketing pro- grams. First, protecting privacy and the use of customer information is never taken lightly at Bell. In addition to having all of its team members review and sign its code of ethics on an annual basis, its representatives undergo privacy training so that customer rights are carefully protected. It has developed an easier-to-read privacy statement and has posted answers to privacy questions its customers frequently ask on its website.

Bell has been working to improve telemarketing prac- tices and has been working with the Canadian Radio- television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to encourage companies to respect the National Do Not Call List. It works with the CRTC to investigate complaints.

Bell knows that customers want clear price informa- tion, so it works to ensure that it provides clear descrip- tions of rates and charges for its products and service plans. Bell seeks out suppliers who have a commitment to sustainable development, environmental protection, health, safety, ethics, and fair labour practices. All sup- pliers have to conform to Bell’s Supplier Code of Con- duct. Rare minerals are critical inputs to many telecom- munication products, but many of these come from conflict-torn countries. Many know the story of conflict diamonds, but other rare minerals also may be mined in conditions that abuse human rights or result in the support of armed conflict. Bell works with the manufacturers of its products to avoid the use of such minerals.

Life cycle issues and product disposal are growing in importance. Bell was the first company to establish a Canada-wide collection program for reusing and recy- cling mobile phones. Customers can drop off their old mobile devices, batteries, and accessories at Bell’s au- thorized retailers and at participating Caisse Desjar- dins, or they can ship them back to Bell free of charge via Canada Post. Since 2003, Bell has recovered more than 879 000 phones. In 2010 alone, it also collected for reuse or recycling 4.7 tonnes of batteries and accessories that would have otherwise ended up in landfills. Protecting children from exploitation in a complex communication environment is another of Bell’s priorities. The company founded the Canadian Coalition Against In- ternet Child Exploitation. As part of this initiative, Bell de- veloped Cleanfeed Canada, which reduces accidental ac- cess to images of child sexual abuse and discourages those trying to access or distribute child pornography. Bell is also a lead partner in www.cybertip.ca, Canada’s tip line for reporting the online exploitation of children. As well, it is the founding sponsor of Media Awareness Network’s Be Web Aware website, which promotes the safe use of the Internet for children and their parents. Bell plays a leadership role in the telecommunications industry, and it takes environmental protection into ac- count in all aspects of its operations, including the deploy- ment and maintenance of its networks and the efficient use of energy and resources. As its 2010 Sustainability report notes, “Using energy efficiently not only helps the environ- ment—it also saves money and supports our strategic im- perative of achieving a competitive cost structure.” Bell has been working hard to reduce its carbon foot- print. Since 2003, it has reduced its greenhouse gas emis- sions by 22 percent. It recycled 89.8 percent of its waste materials. By using more electronic billing, it saved the paper equivalent of 33 000 trees, and by using teleconfer- encing instead of travelling to distant meetings, it further lowered its contribution to harmful emissions. Bell has a large fleet of service vehicles. By equipping 6000 vehicles with telematics (integrated use of telecommunications and informatics), Bell was able to reduce fuel consump- tion in 2010 by 2.8 million litres and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7777 tonnes (the equivalent of taking 1900 mid-sized cars off the road for a year). When building new facilities (called campuses at Bell), it strives to make them as environmentally friendly as possible through the use of natural light, energy recovery cooling systems, water saving devices, and landscaping that does not require irrigation. Its new Montreal campus was LEED-certified by the Canadian Green Building Council, and its Mississauga, Ontario, campus received a waste min- imization award from the Recycling Council of Ontario. Bell also supports the communities in which it op- erates, including northern communities. Its employees logged more than 256 000 hours as community volun- teers. Bell targeted improved mental health, Canada’s most pressing health concern, as its primary cause. In 2010 alone, it contributed $15.8 million to mental health and centres for addiction across the country. In a 2011 program called Bell let’s Talk Day, an anti-stigma initia- tive, Bell contributed 5 cents for each of its customers’ 66 million text messages and long distance calls, raising an additional $3.3 million for mental health programs. Bell is also one of the chief supporters of the Kids Help Phone. The annual Walk for Kids raised $2.5 mil- lion for the cause in 2010 and drew 15 000 participants, including 2000 Bell team members. Bell Canada is a company that certainly demon- strates that you can do well by doing good. It has been consistently profitable, and it does all of these things while sustaining the world for future generations. In- deed, Bell proves that good business and good corpo- rate citizenship can go hand in hand. Question: Identification of marketing problems and the nature of the external environment?

Answer 1

Bell Canada has an extremely ersatile product range, ranging from sale of mobile phones, mobile accessories,mobile data plans, internet plans, satellite TV, mobile TV, amongst a plethora of it's other services.All of these play a vital role in the marketing mix product strategy of the company. It facilitates about 40 live channels and more and also, channels on demand for its Mobile TV or Satellite TV services. Bell Canada has recently introduced the Voice & Video over Long Term Evolution which basically allows high speed internet access nd services over Long Term Evolution data speed while the user can multi-task,while on the call. Also, the facilitation of making and accepting a video call hs been made available.

Bell Canada conducts the sale of various mobile brands like Moto,Apple, Samsung, Sony Xperia etc. It also provides the facility of integrating or synching the phones with wearables’, thus enhancing user experience. It also offers various home phone services in which builds a large network in Canada.